Anna Kendrick In ‘Rapturepalooza’?

From source: The Hollywood Reporter
Have you heard about the apocalyptic comedy, Rapturepalooza yet? The film, scheduled for release next year, currently has just Craig Robinson attached to it. That now looks likely to change with both Anna Kendrick and John Francis Daley in talks to make up the numbers.

Kendrick’s star has been on the rise to prominence over the last three years with bright, emerging performances in the popular ‘Twilight Saga’ franchise, ‘Up in the Air’, and a supporting role in Edgar Wright’s successful graphic novel adaptation, ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’. Meanwhile, John Francis Daley is probably best known for his role as Dr. Lance Sweets in the TV series ‘Bones’ or, if you were lucky enough to have seen it, as Sam Weir in the short-lived but critically acclaimed Judd Apatow and Paul Feig TV series ‘Freaks and Geeks’.

If talks are successful they will join Craig Robinson, who is best known for playing Darryl in the US ‘Office’ series, along with standout roles in comedies such as ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’, ‘Pineapple Express’, and more recently, ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’.

The story takes place after the apocalypse, where the rapture has taken half of the world’s population up to Heaven, leaving those unfortunate enough to be left below dealing with locust storms, blood raining from the sky and other such difficulties one would associate with the apocalypse. As if that isn’t bad enough young couple, Ben (Daley) and Lindsey (Kendrick) are trying to run a sandwich shop amongst all the chaos. Matters become even more complicated when the Anti-Christ (Robinson) chooses Lindsey to be his bride. Chris Matheson has written the script and Paul Middleditch is attached to direct, with Craig Robinson also an executive producer on the film.

Interestingly, Rapturepalooza is the latest micro-budget film to fall under the new initiative set up by Lionsgate. The production company have set up the initiative to generate a set number of films a year for a budget under $2 million. The supernatural thriller, ‘6 Miranda Drive’, and a raunchy comedy, entitled ‘Gay Dude’, are two other films that Lionsgate have currently green lit.

Rapturepalooza has been described as “Zombieland meets the Big Lebowski”, which seems somewhat unlikely and, frankly, if it’s half as good as either of these two films it will have exceeded my expectations. Although a potentially promising cast is being put together, a silly title and quite ridiculous plot usually points towards either mindless fun or mindless drivel. Either way, I’m sure its micro-budget is unlikely to cause the executives at Lionsgate too many sleepless nights.

via FilmShaft